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Celebrate Freedom on Juneteenth

Juneteenth, also known as Juneteenth Independence Day or Freedom Day, is a holiday that commemorates the June 19, 1865 announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas, and more generally the emancipation of African-American slaves throughout the Confederate South.

The Juneteenth World Wide Celebration page tells us: “Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation – which had become official January 1, 1863.”

The page further notes that General Granger read General Orders, Number 3, which began: “The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, ‘all slaves are free.’ This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.”